1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ - Project Teal-J II, Part 7

Installing the Rocker Knockers from Poison Spyder is fairly simple. The first step is to unbolt all the body mounts on one side of the Jeep and gently jack up the body until the rubber mounts and body-lift pucks (if you have a body lift--we do) can be removed.

After shaving 3/8 inch off the rubber body mounts and our 1-inch body-lift pucks, we reinstalled them. The Rocker Knockers then slide over them and sandwich between them and the body. After the Knockers are in place, make sure they are level, and then drill the holes needed to mount them into the body.

The last step is to use the countersunk bolts to attach the Rocker Knocker to the Jeep. Since the Rocker Knockers are 3/16 inch thick and tie into the body mounts for even more strength, we no longer have to worry about damaging Teal-J's rockers.

The Crusher Corners are very simple to install. First we removed our taillights, license-plate holder, fender flares and fuel cap. Then we positioned the Crusher Corner into place and once it was level, we held it in place with C-clamps. Next we started drilling the holes needed to attach it to the body.

Once the countersunk bolts were used to attach the Crusher Corner to the body, we busted out a 4 ½-inch holesaw to cut a hole for the LED taillights. Poison Spyder also makes Crusher Corners for the stock taillights, but we decided to make the back of our TJ completely flat.

The LED taillights are a nice option, as there is no longer a big taillight hanging off the back of the Jeep waiting to get smashed. The stock fuel cap also goes back into place and the factory license-plate holder can also be used, but we decided that we didn't want it hanging off the back.

The Warn front bumper slides onto the frame, and the winch mount (with the winch already attached to it) can be placed on top of the bumper and frame. Then it is simply a matter of torquing down the bolts.

To pull our Jeep out of a serious stuck, we selected the new Warn 9.5XP winch. It is rated for 9,500 pounds of pulling power and features Warn's new high-output parallel series-wound winch motor, which makes a whopping 6 hp. It is built for extreme environments and extreme water resistance with full-face contact drum seals, motor and end-housing gaskets.

A nice feature of the Warn Rock Crawler front bumper is it comes with these heavy-duty mounts that make for a perfect spot for Warn's shackles.

Bolting on the rear Rock Crawler bumper is fairly simple, but takes a bit of time because the bolts attach from the vehicle-side of the bumper. We found the best way was to loosen the gas-tank skidplate to allow for enough room for our hands.

Once the rear bumper is bolted on, the tire-carrier portion of it can be attached. The maximum size supposedly is a 36-inch tire, but we think we might be able to sneak a 37-incher onto it. Now both the nose and rear of our TJ are protected with the stout Warn bumpers.